Book description
Life in the largely rural county of Dorset has not always been idyllic,
for over the years it has experienced numerous murders, some of which
are little known outside the county borders, others that have shocked
the nation. These include arguments between lovers with fatal
consequences, family murders, child murders and mortal altercations at
Dorset's notorious Portland Prison. The entire country thrilled to the
scandalous cases of Alma Rattenbury and Charlotte Bryant who, in the
1930s, found living with their husbands so difficult that both found a
terminal solution to the problem. In 1856, Elizabeth Browne rid herself
of a husband and, in doing so, became the inspiriation for Thomas
Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles. The mystery of the Coverdale Kennels
at Tarrant Keynston, where not one, but two kennel managers died in
suspicious circumstances, remains unsolved to this day. And it was in
Bournemouth that Neville Heath committed the second of his two murders,
which led to his arrest and eventual execution in 1946. Illustrated with
fifty intriguing illustrations, Dorset Murders will appeal to anyone
interested in the shady side of the county's history.
Nicola Sly has a Masters Degree in forensic and legal psychology
and currently teaches criminology to adult learners. She is the author
of Bristol Murders, and co-author of Cornish Murders and Somerset Murders.
